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Turkish opposition leader loses electricity as he protests high prices

Turkey’s main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu’s one-family resistance to protest exorbitant electricity price hikes has garnered large support from the public.

Turkey electricity
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP), whose power was cut off at his home, makes a statement to the press in the garden of his house in Ankara on April 21, 2022. Turkey's opposition leader said on April 21 that his power supply had been cut after he stopped paying electricity bills in protest at soaring prices that he blamed squarely on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. — ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Energy prices have been rising at a shocking rate in Turkey. In the first days of 2022, price hikes reached some 127%. Households and businesses tried to protest in frustration. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and officials of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have made repeated promises for price adjustment since February. 

On Feb. 9, the chair of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Kemal Kilicdaroglu, announced that he would not pay his electricity bills until the promised readjustment comes.

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